Themer Play Store suspension due to alleged copyright infringement

We watched as the Themer launcher app went from private beta to public beta. We even spent a bit of hands-on time checking out the theme oriented launcher ourselves. But as of today, it seems there is another chapter in the story. The app had been pulled from the Play Store earlier in the month due to alleged copyright infringement and now with the issue seemingly resolved, the app has yet to return to an available status.

The app was removed due to Apple. It seems Apple filed the complaint regarding the “Seven” theme, which does did have some similarities to iOS. That particular theme is just one of 200 available, and has since been removed. A letter from the CEO of Themer mentions how they “immediately removed this theme” and thought the app would return to the Play Store in a few days. Representatives from Themer even reached out to Apple, and it was said they have “no remaining concerns.”

“We immediately removed this theme and thought that, at worst, Themer would be back on Play in a few days. But now a week later, we’re facing the possibility that a few days might turn into a few weeks. We’ve spoken to legal representatives from Apple (who have been very nice, reasonable, and helpful), and they have no remaining concerns.”

Here is where it seems Themer is getting frustrated, and likely the reason behind this letter from the CEO. It appears as if they are simply stuck in a holding pattern. Further details from the letter touched on how they understand “Google has a process for these things, and there’s nothing we [they] can do to accelerate that process.” Still, they appear frustrated due to not yet having heard back from Google. Again, it seems this letter was an attempt at reaching out and putting this issue in the public space.

There was talk about how the return of Themer is “frustratingly impossible to predict,” but amongst the frustration there was also a bit of looking forward. Well, more of a tease anyway. On the topic of updates, the CEO had this to say;

“In fact, we’re near completion of a new version that offers memory and battery optimizations, new customization options for the app drawer, and tons of bug fixes. We’ll be ready to get this update out as soon as we’re back on the Play store.”